Instruction device



Api'il 13, 1954 w BRANDT 2,674,923

INSTRUCTION DEVICE Filed July 31, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Tig; a.

April 13, 1954 E. w. BRANDT INSTRUCTION DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 31, 1951 lmmnll l i illl Illa [In a M Ma.

Patented Apr. 13, 1954 INSTRUCTION DEVICE Edgar William Brandt, Geneva, Switzerland, as-

signor to Anstalt fur die Entwicklung von Erfindungen und Gewerblichen Anwendungen,

Energa, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, a holding com- Application July 31, 1951, Serial No. 239,476

4 Claims. (Cl. 891.7)

This invention relates to a firing instruction and training device.

Inert training projectiles of reduced scale projectiles, that is to say those having a short range and low speed, are already known, but the handling, the dimensions and the trajectory of such projectiles are different from those of the corresponding live projectile.

One object of the present invention consists in making available to the marksman a device such as to enable a projectile of reduced calibre to be given, not a reduced speed, but the same speed as that of a war projectile as normally used and to cause it to describe a trajectory identical with that of such a projectile.

Another object of the invention, is to provide a device which although utilising a projectile of reduced calibre, has, during handling and loading of the weapon for which it is intended, an external shape similar to that of a live projectile of the same type, thus providing the marksman with the means of training with ease and in the same conditions as if he Were using the corresponding war ammunition.

According to the present invention, the firing instruction and training device fired with the aid of a rocket launcher, is characterized in that it comprises a practice projectile (actin as a gun) having an external shape similar to that of the corresponding live projectile, but inert and recoverable, and which is open at the front and loaded with a cartridge and a projectile of reduced calibre, the latter having ballistic characteristics equivalent to those of the actual projectile, while the practice projectile is adapted to be ejected from the rocket launcher, to the rear, under the eiiect f the recoil produced by the forward projection of the projectile of reduced calibre.

This particular application of the invention offers numerous advantages, namely:

(a)' The handling, loading, and firing of a practice projectile similar in appearance to an active projectile, although not having a selfpropelling charge as in the case of a rocket.

(1)) Economy in propellant, since the projectile of reduced calibre has only a relatively small charge.

(0) The rapid recovery of the gun-projectile, which falls out to the rear and near the weapon.

(d) The utilisation of the projectile of reduced calibre for various purposes, such as for a smoke producing, tracer, or marker projectile.

If the training device is utilised in conjunction with a rocket launcher having automatic' re 2 arming of the percussion mechanism, the gun projectile ejected to the rear is adapted, according to the invention, to push down, and hence to re-cock, the hammer of the rocket launcher durin its passage.

It follows that the re-cocking, which is normally effected by the self-propulsion gases of the live projectile, is nevertheless efiected by the ejection of the gun projectile.

The latter is obturated at the rear by a removable breech of the calibre of the rocket launcher, said breech having means of fixing the gun projectile in the weapon. The bore of the gun projectile is preferably rifled, in order to stabilize by gyration the projectile of reduced calibre.

When the latter is intended to mark the target, it comprises, in combination, a tracer charge and a marker charge, the tracer charge being adapted, according to the invention, to fire the marker charge after a given time, in the event of the projectile missing its target. Thus, the action of one of the charges on the other ensures in simple and effective manner the self-destruction of the projectile.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the projectile has a head of plastic material, which is readily shattered without dangerous splinters. This head has moreover a circular shoulder, the surface of which is selected in such manner as to impart to the projectile, taking into account its weight and its calibre, a suitable ballistic coefficient and hence a speed and trajectory similar to those of a war projectile fired with the same weapon, but of greater weight and larger calibre. This circular shoulder furthermore facilitates the breaking-inward of the projectile head on impact, because of the small thickness of the wall of the projectile on said shoulder.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate diagrammatically and by way of example, various embodiments thereof, and in which:

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the functioning of the firing training device before and after firing the shot;

Figure 3 is a section of a practice projectile;

Figure 4 is a partial section on an enlarged scale of the rear of the loaded practice projectile;

Figure 5 shows, in longitudinal section, a projectile of reduced calibre intended for the marking of the target;

Figure 6 illustrates diagrammatically the funcaemees 3 tioning on impact of the projectile illustrated in Figure and Figures 7 and 8 show, likewise in partial longitudinal section, a modification of a projectile of reduced calibre, and its functioning on impact.

The projector Weapon or rocket launcher I (Figures 1 and 2) has been illustrated, with part of it removed, at the time of a training shot with the aid of the device of the present invention, namely a practice projectile 2 and a projectile 3 of reduced calibre.

The practice projectile 2 (Figure 3) comprises a wooden body 4, on which is attached a metal cap 5 open at the front, the whole having an external shape similar to that of a self-pro elled war projectile or rocket (not illustrated).

A rifled barrel 6 of steel is mounted inside the body 4, its front end being held by the flangedover cap 5. A breech carrier is retained on the rear end of the tube 8, while the breech 8 screwed on the breech carrier 7 serves as base for the practice projectile 2.

Instead of being made of wood, the body 4 of the gun projectile 2 could be made of any other suitable material, such as synthetic resin, light alloy, and so on.

The striker 9, held by a spring H3, is housed in a central cavity in the breech 3; it is guided through a cylindrical part i l. The breech 8 also has on its periphery a group of toothed fins E2 of the calibre of the weapon i, which come into engagement with a bolt (not illustrated) preventing the practice projectile from being displaced in the barrel of the weapon before firing. The projectile of reduced calibre 3 (Figure 4) is introduced into the practice projectile and locked by screwing up the breech 8.

The projectile of reduced calibre (Figure 5) is intended, during firing training, to simulate the trajectory and impact of an actual War projectile which would be fired in the same conditions. The projectile comprises a front part M, preferably of plastic material, comprising a fuse carrier I5 in which is housed a fuse consisting of a striker it, a primer ii, and a spacing spring i8 retaining the primer I? in position.

On impact, the front part i4 is broken at the site of the shoulder E9, the surface of which, perpendicular to the axis of the projectile, also contributes towards modifying the ballistic coefiicient of the latter, that is to say the air resistance which it encounters on its trajectory.

A metal casing 2%: is attached over the part M and comprises a driving band 2! which when the shot is fired is gripped in the rifiing of the gun projectile 2.

The charge of the projectile of reduced calibre is composed of an impact or marker charge 22, the composition of which varies in accordance with the effect required (flash of light, smoke clouds, and so on) and which is retained in its housing by a mat 23 and a metal ring 24, and of a tracer charge 25 contained in a tracer carrier 25. Finally, a relay 2? effects the transmission of fire between the charges 25 and 22, if the projectile does not hit the target aimed at, in order to ensure its self-destruction in that case.

The case 22 of the cartridge caps the base of the tracer carrier 26 and contains a propulsive charge 29 surmounted by plug discs 33 of an inert material, as rubber. A cap 3! efiects the firing of the charge 29. Depending on requirements, it is thus possible to increase or reduce the amount of powder 29, by changing the number of discs 30.

The functioning of the device of the present invention is clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2, in which the practice projectile 2, containing a projectile of reduced calibre 3, is introduced into the weapon l by the loader (not illustrated). On the firing of the shot, the hammer 32 strikes against the striker 9 (Figure 4), which fires the cap 3| and the charge 29.

The practice projectile 2 forming a gun is ejected to the rear and falls out (Figure 2) in the immediate proximity of the weapon I, under the effect of the recoil of the projectile 3 of reduced calibre (shown in the mouth of the weapon), which is starting its forward trajectory.

The practice projectile 2 is easily loaded by unscrewing the breech S; the cartridge case 28 falls out of its own accord, and a new projectile 3 of reduced calibre is placed in the breech.

The modification illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 relates to a projectile of reduced calibre, comprising a casing 33 of brass and in one piece. In order to avoid all dangerous splinters on impact, the outer surface of the casing 33 may be provided with longitudinal grooves 34 which facilitate its opening at the time of the explosion of the marker charge 22, as indicated diagrammatically in Figure 8. Cork discs 35 enable the charge 22 to be wedged in the casing 33.

It is obvious that the invention has been illustrated and described only by way of example and that various modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A firing instruction and training device comprising in combination a rocket launcher and a practice projectile to be ejected, at firing, through the rear of said launcher, said launcher being open at both ends, a mechanism at the rear of said launcher, said mechanism comprising a pivotally mounted hammer, said hammer being held, in cocked position, substantially parallel to and outside of said launcher, a rifled steel tube axially disposed through the entire length of said practice projectile, a detachable breech obturating the rear part of said tube, a cartridge and a projectile of reduced caliber being disposed in and at the rear of said rifled tube, a central cavity in said breech and a striker guided in said cavity, the pin of said striker being operated, at firing, by upward pivoting of said hammer to the fired position, said practice projectile being thus ejected from the rear of said launcher under the recoil produced by the forward projection of the projectile of reduced caliber, said hammer being thus re-cocked by the rearward passage of the practice projectile.

2. A firing instruction and training device, as claimed in claim 1, in which said practice projectile comprises an external wooden body, said rifled steel tube being inserted in said wooden body.

3. A firing instruction and training device, as claimed in claim 1, in which said projectile of reduced caliber comprises at the front a casing, an annular shoulder on said casing, the shouldered portion of said casing being perpendicular to the axis of said projectile and the thickness of the wall of said casing on said shoulder being smaller than the other parts of said wall.

4. A firing instruction and training device, as claimed in claim 1, in which said projectile of reduced caliber comprises at the front, a casing, longitudinal grooves on said casing, the thick- 5 ness of said casing along said grooves being Number smaller than that of the intermediate parts of 1, said casing between said grooves. 2,107,034

References Cited in th file of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS as Number Name Date 7 43 684,653 Tubini Oct. 1 1901 411,381

Name Date Gaiclos Nov. 28, 1933 Guthrie Feb. 1, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Austria Apr. 26, 1937 Italy Aug. 1, 1939 Great Britain June 7, 1934 

